The co-op meeting was held in the Fairview Legion hall on the second Thursday in July, and by the time I got there at six-thirty there were two hundred people in folding chairs and standing against the back wall. The hall smelled like coffee and floor wax. Somebody had put out a tray of cookies that nobody was eating. A ceiling fan clicked on every third turn. I hung my cap on the back of a chair and then took it off again because I did not want to look like I had claimed a seat.
The coffee was the urn kind, too hot and then too bitter. I poured a cup and did not drink it. A folding chair pinched my coat. Somebody's kid ran the length of the back wall and was told to sit. The windows were open a c***k and let in diesel from the lot. I wiped my hands on my jeans even though they were alrea
